Exploring urban metabolism—Towards an interdisciplinary perspective

Dijst, Martin; Worrell, Ernst; Böcker, Lars; Brunner, Paul H.; Davoudi, Simin; Geertman, Stan; Harmsen, Robert; Helbich, Marco; Holtslag, A.A.M.; Kwan, Mei‐Po; Lenz, Barbara; Lyons, Glenn; Mokhtarian, Patricia L.; Newman, Peter; Perrels, Adriaan; Ribeiro, Ana Poças; Carreón, Jesús Rosales; Thomson, Giles; Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana; Zeyringer, Marianne

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.014

Cited by 132 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Urban metabolism refers to the accounting of energy and material fluxes of a city or any inhabited core; the concept serves as a framework for analyzing its inputs and outputs, often focusing on energy, water, and nutrients flows. When studying urban metabolism, it is usually the aim to understand current linear resource management strategies in the cities characterized by high resource demand and polluting discharges of waste streams, and propose alternative closed-loop systems where resources are efficiently used within urban boundaries with a restorative perspective [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our findings show that decentralized valorization of KW and GR are a clear win-win policy, since they can not only produce important environmental benefits for the city in the long run, but also important cost savings considering the landfill fees and residues transportation of the current centralized waste management system. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6206 2 of 26 as an organism, intakes those elements via food inputs coming mostly from external agricultural sources, which, after consumed, transform partially into unwanted by-products i.e., solid waste or human excreta [1]. Within the linear approach, these flows are usually directed towards end-of pipe solutions such as landfills or wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) where they are contained or partially treated and recovered, thereby still causing unwanted emissions to be released into the natural environment.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Decentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Peñalolén in Santiago de Chile

et al. 2019

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Urban residual flows contain significant amounts of valuable nutrients, which, if recovered, could serve as input for the own city needs or those of its immediate surroundings. In this study, the possibilities for decentralized recovery of nutrient rich residual flows in Santiago, Chile, are studied by means of a case study considering technical and socio-economic criteria. In particular, we calculate circularity indicators for organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) and cost–benefits of household and community on-site technological alternatives. Kitchen waste (KW) and garden residues (GR) as well as urine were considered as system inputs whereas urban agriculture, municipality green, or peri-urban agriculture were the considered destinations for nutrients recovered. The technologies studied were anaerobic digestion, vermicomposting, and composting, while urine storage and struvite precipitation were considered for nutrient recovery from urine. Material flow analysis was used to visualize the inputs and outputs of the baseline situation (the traditional urban waste management system), and of the different household and municipality resource recovery scenarios (the decentralized valorization systems). Our findings show that decentralized valorization of KW and GR are a clear win–win policy, since they can not only produce important environmental benefits for the city in the long run, but also important cost savings considering the landfill fees and residues transportation of the current centralized waste management system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Peñalolén in Santiago de Chile

et al. 2019

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“…The biophysical approach of urban metabolism has provided powerful insights into the effect of human settlements on their environments, beginning in the nineteenth century with the application of thermodynamic principles to social activities at many scales and then focusing in the late twentieth century on a variety of methods applied specifically to cities (Fischer-Kowalski, 1998;Fischer-Kowalski and Hüttler, 1998). The recent focus has been to better "understand the drivers that affect the flows" of energy and materials through cities, to more directly connect them to "social and economic spatio-temporal processes" (Dijst et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolism of Urban Location: Travel Time and the Morphology of Cities

Braham

Lee

2020

Front. Sustain. Cities

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This paper examines the metabolism of urban location, which is offered as a contribution to the expansion of urban metabolism analysis beyond the largely biophysical methods of mass-energy-balance and emergy accounting. But how does the real estate logic of location enter the stock and flow calculations of urban metabolism, and how can it help us better understand the physiology of a more sustainable city? A new, locational quantity, EL, is defined as the additional emergy value obtained by a tract of urban land due to interconnection with the other land parcels in the city. It is based on their level of development and proximity measured in terms of travel time. The article uses the greater Philadelphia region as a case study to examine the metabolic value of location, and its role in the transition to a renewable economy.

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“…27 The generation and quantity of AM are subject to urban metabolism affected by a variety of regulations, resultant policy, and technological change. 28,29 The intertwined nexus among natural, social, and economic perspectives 30,31 reveal that the accurate estimation of AM is very tough. No detailed studies are found on the total amount of current and anticipated AM.…”

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Anthropogenic Mineral Supply through a Circular Economy Approach Has Potential to Meet Chinese Resource Consumption

Zeng¹,

Ali²,

Tian³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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An increasingly large quantity of primary mineral resource is being converted into manufactured products and destined for solid waste disposal. This material can be reclassified as “anthropogenic mineral reserves” and be a potential source of metals for a range of manufacturing uses. China is implementing a range of policy interventions which can lead to such a classification that will raise the profile of recycling programs as a means of metal supply. China is not only a major producer of consumer products and importer of secondary metals, but also has a major urban infrastructure footprint. Here we consider three product groups, 30 products, and imports, and map the recycling potential of anthropogenic mineral and 23 types of the capsulated materials by targeting their evolution from 2010 to 2050. Total weight of anthropogenic mineral on average in China reached 39 Mt in 2010, but it will double in 2022 and quadruple in 2045. Stocks of precious metals and rare earths will increase faster than most base materials. The total economic potential in yearly-generated anthropogenic mineral is anticipated to grow markedly from 100 billion US$ in 2020 to 400 billion US$ in 2050. Anthropogenic mineral of around 20 materials will be able to meet projected consumption of three product groups by 2050, due to high availability of recycled content and gradual saturation of consumption. Durability of material usage and the concomitant stock of the anthropogenic mineral remain major challenges in determining the viability of this supply in the second half of the coming century.

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Exploring urban metabolism—Towards an interdisciplinary perspective

Cited by 132 publications

References 46 publications

Decentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Peñalolén in Santiago de Chile

Decentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Peñalolén in Santiago de Chile

Metabolism of Urban Location: Travel Time and the Morphology of Cities

Anthropogenic Mineral Supply through a Circular Economy Approach Has Potential to Meet Chinese Resource Consumption

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